View source for Steek (Sikh literature)

{{Short description|Sikh exegetical literature}}
{{Infobox
| title            = Steek/Teeka
| image            = [[File:ਆਸਾ ਦੀ ਵਾਰ ਦਾ ਭਾਵ ਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼ਨੀ ਟੀਕਾ.pdf|ਆਸਾ ਦੀ ਵਾਰ ਦਾ ਭਾਵ ਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼ਨੀ ਟੀਕਾ|190px|alt=Teeka (exegesis) on the Sikh "Asa Di Vaar" Composition]]
| caption          = Teeka (exegesis) on the Sikh "Asa Di Vaar" Composition
}}
{{Sikh literature}}A '''''steek''''' or '''''teeka''''' (other spellings may exist such as ''stik'' or ''tika)'' ({{Langx|pa|ਸਟੀਕ|translit=steek|label=[[Gurmukhi]]}}; '[[Exegesis]]') is an exegesis or [[Commentary (philology)|commentary]] on a [[Sikh scriptures|Sikh religious text]],<ref name=":2">Nabha, Bhai Kahan Singh. "Mahan kosh." ''(No Title)'' (1990).</ref><ref name=":0" /> usually ''[[Gurbani]]'', but can also include other writings like the [[ghazal]]s of [[Bhai Nand Lal]]. An author of a ''steek'' or ''teeka'' is known as a ''teekakar'' (Gurmukhi: ਟੀਕਾਕਾਰ).<ref name=":2" /> A steek always includes an explanation, or ''viakhya'' (Gurmukhi: ਵ੍ਯਾਖ੍ਯਾ)<ref name=":2" /> of the specific religious text, but depending on the complexity of the steek, it can also include footnotes, commentary, and contexts to the specific verses and where they were first written/revealed (known as an "Uthanka" [Gurmukhi: ਉਥਾਨਕਾ]).
There are different characteristics and variations between ''steeks''. Traditional Sikh commentaries on Sikh scripture are known as a ''[[Sampradaya|Sampardai]] Steek/Teeka'' (Gurmukhi: ਸੰਪ੍ਰਦਾਈ ਟੀਕਾ/ਸਟੀਕ) and usually includes more detailed exegesis of Sikh Scripture.
== Etymology ==
According to the ''[[Mahan Kosh]]'', the word ''steek'' (ਸਟੀਕ) means ''"text with annotations, with the original text explanation,"''<ref name=":2" /> whereas the word ''teeka'' (ਟੀਕਾ) means "commentary on a ''granth'' (book), exegesis, 'read aloud with annotations.'"<ref name=":2" /> Both words can trace their etymology to the [[Sanskrit|Sanskrit language]]. A steek is typically a simpler translation of the text in question, whereas a teeka is typically held to be a more complex and in-depth exegesis of the religious text.
== Categorization ==
There are four major types of Sikh scriptural interpretation techniques, they are as follows:<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Anoop |title=A Bibliography of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji |date=27 February 2005 |publisher=Panthic Weekly |pages=8–9 |chapter=Part 4: Interpretations and Commentaries: A - Studies of Interpretive Traditions}}</ref>
* ''Teeka'': commentary providing the meaning of a particular hymn or composition in layman's terms.<ref name=":6" /> This technique is common amongst [[Sikh Studies|Sikh scholars]].<ref name=":6" />
* ''Viakhia'': extended commentary on a ''[[Shabda|shabad]]''.<ref name=":6" /> This is the basic mode of scriptural exegesis performed at Sikh [[gurdwara]]s or ''[[Dera (organization)|deras]]''.<ref name=":6" />
* ''Bhashya'' or ''bhash'': an explanation of difficult words found in a text by the writer.<ref name=":6" />
* ''Paramarth'': a glossary or "word-meanings", providing spiritual meanings of mystic and religious terms found in the scripture.<ref name=":6" />
== History ==
The writings of [[Bhai Gurdas]] are considered to be the first exegeses of Sikh literature, and Bhai Gurdas is considered to be the first Sikh exegete (during the Guru Period).<ref>Philosophical Reflections on Śabad (word): Event - Resonance - Revelation, Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair.</ref> His ''[[Varan Bhai Gurdas|vaars]]'' provide in-depth commentary on [[Gurmat|Sikh theology]]. Later, in 1706, after the [[Battle of Muktsar]], the army of [[Guru Gobind Singh]] camped at Sabo Ki Talwandi, today known as [[Damdama Sahib|Takht Sri Damdamā Sahib]].<ref>Dhillon, Dalbir (1988). Sikhism Origin and Development. Atlantic Publishers & Distri. p. 152.</ref> That year, for nine months, Guru Gobind Singh performed oral exegesis of the Guru Granth Sahib, and this ''[[Vidya (philosophy)|vidya]]'' is said to have been passed down the ''Sikh Sampardai''.<ref>Singh, Nirbhai. ''Philosophy of Sikhism: Reality and its manifestations''. Atlantic Publishers & Distri, 1990.</ref> In this way, traditional Sikh schools of thought ([[Sampradaya|sampardai]]) are said to have received their knowledge and interpretations of scriptural canon from the ''pranali'' (lineage of knowledge).
[[File:Folio of handwritten teeka (exegesis) of the Japji Sahib composition, attributed to Bhai Mani Singh (1).jpg|thumb|Folio of handwritten ''teeka'' (exegesis) of the [[Japji Sahib]] composition, attributed to Bhai Mani Singh]]
There is also contemporary exegesis literature from the period that can be referenced today, such as the works of [[Bhai Mani Singh]], which are often cited as sources for steeks.<ref>{{Cite book |last=SGGS Academy |url=http://archive.org/details/exegesis-of-akaal-ustat |title=Exegesis Of Akaal Ustat: SGGS Academy |date=2019-01-13}}</ref>
== List of major ''Teekas'' and ''Steeks'' ==
=== Faridkot Teeka ===
When Western scholar [[Ernest Trumpp]] began to draft his English translation of the entire Sikh scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, his approach earned him the disdain of many Sikhs.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Studying the Sikhs: issues for North America |date=1993 |publisher=State Univ. of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-1426-2 |editor-last=Hawley |editor-first=John Stratton |series=SUNY series in religious studies |location=Albany, N.Y |editor-last2=Mann |editor-first2=Gurinder Singh}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ballantyne |first=Tony |title=Between colonialism and diaspora: Sikh cultural formations in an imperial world |date=2006 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-3824-6 |location=Durham, N. C. London}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite web |last=McLeod |first=William Hewat |date=11 August 2024 |title=Sikh literature |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sikhism/Sikh-literature |access-date=25 August 2024 |website=Britannica}}</ref> Following the publication of Trumpp's work in 1877, Raja Bikram Singh, ruler of [[Faridkot State|Faridkot]] (1842–98) and patron of the Amritsar Khalsa Diwan,<ref>Singh, Gurdarshan. "The Singh Sabha Movement." ''History and Culture of Punjab'' (1988): 95-107.</ref> commissioned a full-scale commentary on the Guru Granth Sahib.<ref name=":0" /> The revision was completed during the time of Raja Bikram Singh, but he did not live long enough to see publication of the work he had sponsored.<ref name=":0" /> Four volumes of [[Exegesis|exegetical literature]] were later published (three volumes between 1905–06 and the fourth several years later<ref name=":9" />),<ref name=":0" /> collectively known as the ''Faridkot Teeka'',<ref>Macauliffe, Max Arthur, and Devinder Singh. "FORMULATING METHODOLOGY FOR INTERPRETING GURBANI."</ref><ref>McLeod, William Hewat, ed. ''Textual sources for the study of Sikhism''. University of Chicago Press, 1990.</ref> due to its place of origin and exegetical nature. To this day, the ''Faridkot Teeka'' is held in high regard by many Sikhs, although many modern Sikh scholars and [[Theology|theologians]] have raised objections against the ''teeka,'' due to its ''[[Brahmanical philosophy|Brahmanical]]'' and ''[[Vedanta|Vedantic]]'' leanings in explaining Sikh Theology.<ref name=":0" /> Collectively, the teeka is over 4,000 pages of literature<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gurubani |url=http://archive.org/details/FridkotWalaTeeka_201901 |title=Fridkot Wala Teeka}}</ref> and includes (at times) multiple ''arths'' [ਅਰਥ] (meanings) and ''uthankas'' for the various ''[[Shabda|shabads]]'' (hymns) within the Guru Granth Sahib.
=== Shabadarath Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji ===
This commentary was published between 1936 and 1941.<ref name=":9" /> It was mostly the work of Teja Singh.<ref name=":9" />
=== Santhya Sri Guru Granth Sahib ===
Seven volumes of commentary were published between 1958 and 1962 by [[Vir Singh (writer)|Vir Singh]], though the work was never finished.<ref name=":9" />
=== Garib Ganjini Teeka ===
The Garib Ganjini Teeka is one of the most renowned and respected commentaries within the Sikh tradition. The word "Garib Ganjini" means "to destroy ego", principally the ego of [[Udasi]] Scholar [[Anandghan]].<ref name=":0">Virk, Hardev Singh. "Approaches to the Exegesis of Sri Guru Granth Sahib."</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Pashaura |title=The Guru Granth Sahib: Canon, Meaning and Authority |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=9780199087730 |chapter=5. Nirmala Pranali |quote=The origin of the Nirmala sect within the Panth is obscure, although there is some evidence that it existed during the Misal period in the late eighteenth century. There is no evidence to support the traditional claim that Guru Gobind Singh himself deputed five Sikhs to Kashi for Sanskritic learning. The first recognized Nirmala scholar was Kavi Santokh Singh, who wrote the celebrated works Nanak Prakash and Suraj Prakash in the first half of the nineteenth century. He also wrote a commentary on Japji, popularly known as Garbganjani Tika, 'A Commentary to Humble the Pride [of Udasi Anandghan].' Santokh Singh took strong exception to Anandghan's interpretation that Guru Nanak acknowledged six Gurus in a line from Japji. He was also strongly critical of the esoteric interpretation of gurbani presented in the Udasi work. It appears that the scriptural interpretation was one focus of conflict among various sects within the Panth in the nineteenth century. Like Udasis, however, the Nirmala scholars were equally inclined towards Vedantic interpretations of gurbani. They maintained that gurbani was essentially an expression of the Vedic teachings in the current vernacular language (bhakha). In his commentary on Japji, for instance, Santokh Singh frequently employed the Puranic myths and examples from the Vedas to make a point. Basically, he interpreted certain key Sikh doctrines from a brahminical perspective.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mandair |first=Arvind |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1082242146 |title=Shared Idioms, Sacred Symbols, and the Articulation of Identities in South Asia |publisher=Routledge |others=Michael Nijhawan, Kelly Pemberton |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-203-88536-9 |series=Volume 11 of Routledge Studies in Religion |volume=11 |location=New York |pages=76 |oclc=1082242146}}</ref> It was authored by [[Kavi Santokh Singh]], as a rebuttal to a work written the [[Udasi]], who he claimed degraded the ''[[Japji Sahib]]'' and [[Guru Nanak]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Santokh Singh criticized Anandghan for his belief that Guru Nanak recognized 6 Gurus in succession within the Japji Sahib, as well as his [[Exoteric|esoteric]] interpretations of the meanings of the text.<ref name=":1" /> The ''teeka'' only covers the Japji Sahib, and is approximately 180 pages.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kavi Santokh Singh |url=http://archive.org/details/garab-ganjinee-teeka |title=Garab Ganjinee Teeka - Searchable in Unicode - Punjabi - Vichar and Exegsis}}</ref>
=== Sri Guru Granth Sahib Darpan ===
The Sri Guru Granth Sahib Darpan is a 10-volume exegetical work, with over 6,000 pages of literature in total.<ref>{{Cite book |last=www.DiscoverSikhism.com |url=http://archive.org/details/SriGuruGranthSahibDarpan |title=Sri Guru Granth Sahib Darpan |language=Punjabi}}</ref><ref name=":9" /> The work is notable for its objective nature, achieved through [[Sahib Singh|Sahib Singh's]] (the ''teekakar'') complete reliance on the grammar of the Guru Granth Sahib to derive meanings.<ref>Singh, Devinder. "FORMULATING METHODOLOGY FOR INTERPRETING GURBANI POSSIBLE CAUSES AND/OR EXCUSES."</ref><ref name=":3">Staff, Anoop Singh-Panthic Weekly. "Bibliography of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji."</ref> As such, this exegesis does not include ''uthankas''. The ''Sri Guru Granth Sahib Darpan'' was published between 1962 and 1964.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":9" />
== References ==
<references />{{Sikhism}}
[[Category:Sikh literature]]
[[Category:Exegesis]]
[[mos:PSEUDOHEAD]]